


Missed Connection

by Sasuga_Ojouchan



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: A bunch of other ships mainly featuring Rei, Everyone's a pro idol now, Future Fic, Gen, It's fairly Keito centric, M/M, One sided Keito/Eichi, One sided Rei/Keito, This is partly a KeiRei fic because that's my ship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-17
Updated: 2017-08-17
Packaged: 2018-12-16 14:33:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11830737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sasuga_Ojouchan/pseuds/Sasuga_Ojouchan
Summary: Keito and Kuro sit down and talk about what once was, what never will be, and what could possibly happen.





	Missed Connection

Keito sat quietly admiring the view from Kuro’s apartment. It was their rare day off, tomorrow they would get right back to their idol work – Photoshoots, interviews, commercials, whatever their manager had scheduled for them. Souma had already left them for the evening, claiming night plans with Adonis.

“Do ya ever miss the small freedom Yumenosaki gave us?” Kuro asked abruptly, placing a full glass down in front of Keito and himself. Keito jumped, startled, watching Kuro take a seat on the opposite side of him.

“Define ‘Small Freedom’, as I remember I was busy trying to make sure the school ran as smoothly as possible.” Keito retorted.

“Yes, how could I forget the amount of energy drinks you downed trying to make sure plans went right, and kept the peace at the same time,” Kuro rolled his eyes laughing, “I’m talking about how we got to decide everything for ourselves. If we wanted to participate in somethin’ we did, and if we didn’t we didn’t. Everythin’ is decided for us now. It’s still hard to get used to. I miss the freedom.”

“What are you trying to say?” Keito studied him, “You’re not trying to quit on me are you? We’re in this together. We all gave up something to be here.”

“‘M not gonna quit on you,” he paused and gave Keito a serious look, “Do you wish you could go back and change it?”

It was a simple question. Keito felt like he shouldn’t have been as surprised as he was to hear it, though it was odd hearing it come out of Kuro’s mouth. Would he change it? What would he even change? He reflected back on everything and quietly shook his head.

“As much of a pain Yumenosaki was, and how difficult it is to be an idol now, I wouldn’t. There are things I would have done differently while in high school, but overall I wouldn’t change my career path. I enjoy being on stage with you and Kanzaki. Even if he still tries to kill himself with his sword.” He mutters the last bit.

Kuro leans back in his seat taking a drink, “What would you’ve done differently?”

“Where is this even coming from?”

“Just curious, Danna,” He shrugged, “Just been thinkin’ about it myself, is all. There’s a few things I’d prolly change, but they’re not too major of things.”

Keito sighed, giving it some more thought. Start with the basics.

“While I think it was for the best, maybe I would have given Nagumo an easier time at first. I’m not saying I would have allowed him to join Akatsuki. But maybe I would have been more upfront about it, instead of telling him there was a written exam for him to join.”

“He was better a better fit for Ryuseitai,” Kuro smiled fondly at the thought of his junior, “That all?”

“Why am I the only one who has to answer the questions? Why don’t you share something too?”

“Cause you look like you’ve got more to say, and Kanzaki isn’t here to share his input.” Kuro wasn’t wrong. Keito frowned more, glaring at his drink in front of him.

“Fine. I think, perhaps, I would have tried to stop Eichi from causing a war,” He sighed, “I didn’t, because he was mostly doing what I wanted. As you may recall my dealings with you and the other delinquents from our second year, that convoluted plan to get Sakuma to bring some sense of law to Yumenosaki. Obviously it didn’t work, and it backfired a lot. But, Eichi… Eichi actually started doing something. He brought order to the school. He gave the student council power. Which is exactly what I wanted in the first place! Just maybe… maybe it should have been handled differently. I’m not a cold hearted person who wanted to break people’s spirits. I just wanted to be taken seriously - To have the student council be taken seriously by our teachers. Eichi went about the whole thing the wrong way, and I regret going along with his plans almost exactly. But, I don’t entirely regret the outcome. I probably should have said something though.”

Kuro sat there for a moment before speaking up, “What stopped you from sayin’ somethin’? I know you were childhood friends, but that doesn’t seem like it would have been enough to just let him do as he wants. I mean, you don’t let people walk over ya. But, you also had us take it easy on Ra*bits, and you were kind to Tetsu and the other Ryuseitai kids. You have a strong moral sense, so how did Eichi manage to get away with everythin’ he did?”

Keito inhaled sharply and looked away. He’d be the first to admit his feelings, if somebody asked him. He’s not ashamed of them, but did Kuro really not know?

“I’m sure it was obvious to any number of people. It’s not like I hid it, but I was a bit in love with him. Still am a little, though I’m mostly over it. I didn’t stop him like I should, because deep down I wanted him to return my feelings. Obviously he didn’t and never will as he’s with Hibiki. But the point still remains.” Keito’s ears were red, and he refused to look at Kuro.

“I had a feelin’ that was it. That would also explain why ya didn’t notice others.” Keito whipped his head, looking at Kuro in shock.

“Others? What others?” Kuro let out a loud laugh.

“Danna, during the play with Hibiki, you said you were interested in the concept of love. I didn’t know you were oblivious to other’s around you.”

“Oi. Don’t laugh, who are you talking about?!”

“Take a guess.”

“It’s wasn’t you was it?” Kuro snorted.

“Nah. You’re not my type, besides I had my eye on Nito at the time. You know this.”

Keito released a sigh of relief. He remembers the teasing from others, including Kuro himself, about him and Kuro being Souma’s fathers. Whatever, he just wanted to be a good senpai. Keito sat and thought about who could have possibly had a crush on him. Who did he even regularly interact with back then?

“Was it… Isara? I always thought he and Sakuma’s younger brother had a thing.”

“It wasn’t. I’m pretty sure he’s mainly into girls. Though, I’m sure Sakuma’s little brother has seduced him on more than one occasion.” Keito nodded in agreeance.

It couldn’t have been Tori. Tori seemed to be to have a small crush on the transfer student, as well, as trying to get Eichi’s attention and fighting Tsukasa. Tsukasa was busy fighting Tori and just dealing with the other Knights, that Keito didn’t think it was possible. Yuzuru only had eyes for Tori. Wataru was out of the question on principle alone, though it helped confirm it, that he and Eichi got together at the end of their third year. Leo always seemed to be about Izumi and vice versa. Kaoru preferred girls and Kanata. Same went for Chiaki. Shu hated him, and could barely stand to be in his presence since he was so closely tied to Eichi. Keito wasn’t even sure Tsumugi could feel anything romantic, since he was just so focused on being useful, and who even knew about Madara. Process of elimination left one, and it was so completely unbelievable.

“Sakuma Rei? But, I’m pretty sure he had some sort of distrust towards me. He always seemed like he was playing a game with me.”

Kuro stared blankly at him. Keito shifted under the scrutiny

“Danna, I say this 100% seriously. Nobody can be that hands-y with a single person, while not being close to them, and not have a thing for them.” Keito laughed.

“You forget that Sakuma Rei may have not been as hands-y as Hibiki, but he was hands-y with many people, as well as being notorious for dating half the school. He’s completely out of the question.” Kuro sighed.

“Okay, think about how he was hands-y with others compared to you. He usually just likely to pat people’s heads, much to the anger and annoyance of Ogami. With you, he was always casually touching ya. And I saw him many times just slap yer ass or lean on ya. He wasn’t like that with anyone else.”

Fair point.

“And the dating of others? Nobody who has a crush on somebody dates other people.”

“That’s a bit harder to understand. Though dating multiple people at once, and being open isn’t out of the question. But, he’s told me he only dated others when you had rejected him.”

“And why would he tell you this? Since when were you two close?” Keito crossed his arms across his chest. This just didn’t make any logical sense to him.

Kuro looked away and scratched the bridge of his nose. Wait… Kuro couldn’t have…?

“You… You went out with him, didn’t you? When did this happen?! How did this happen?! Explain, Kiryuu!”

“Do ya want the short version or the long version?”

“I want the version that explains how you’re sitting here in front of me telling me that Sakuma Rei, THE Sakuma Rei had some sort of infatuation with me, but ended up dating you, despite you having eyes for Nito.”

“Well to be fair, I didn’t develop feelings for Nito until later. ‘Sides I wasn’t the only one you know, Nito dated him too. Mine and Sakuma’s relationship was extremely casual. Since those were the terms. But honestly, it happened shortly after Dead Man’s. I watched him flirt with you-“

“He did not!” Keito interrupted.

“Do ya want the story or not?”

“Sorry… please continue.”

“Anyways, I watched him flirt with you, and asked you out. Actually it was one of his blunter ways of asking you. You rejected him claiming paperwork or somethin’, then ya scolded him and walked off.” Kuro could hear Keito murmur a quiet ‘Oh’ before he continued, “He came up to me later and asked if I was interested in casually dating. He said I looked like fun. It didn’t make sense to me. So I asked him why he asked you out, but when ya rejected him he came to me and asked me out. He just smirked and told me that he liked the company, that none of his relationships were serious - Unless you decided ya wanted to go out with him. He said I could make up the rules and he’d go along with them. I agreed. I had nothin’ better to do.”

Keito just sat there slightly slack-jawed. Kuro took that as a sign to continue.

“I only came up with one rule, and that was it was a secret from you. I told him I didn’t care otherwise. He just smiled and said that even if I didn’t care, he still wanted me to make up the rules. He told me he wouldn’t start any special contact that it was up to me. More specifically, he was talking about making out and having sex.”

“And did you?”

“Did I what?”

“Make out with him or have sex with him?” Keito felt his chest tighten.

“Danna, I’m not gonna continue this story, if you’re gonna get jealous. Considerin’ this was at least 4 years ago, and you weren’t even aware.”

“… ‘m not jealous.” He mumbled.

“Hasumi-danna, I’ve known you long enough to read your face, and yer face is screaming that yer jealous.”

“Just finish the story. Explain to me how this all worked.” Kuro sighed.

“Fine, but if you hear something you don’t like, you asked for it. To answer your question though, I did, a few times actually. The relationship only lasted about a month. Most of the time he’d talk about you. He asked you out a few times while we were dating and he’d just come up to me after and look me in the eyes and just go ‘Why is Keito-kun so stupid.’ As if I knew. He knew as well as I did about your feelin’s for Tenshouin. Though it was more guessin’ on my part, I assume he just knew and decided to go after you anyways. He’d ask for advice about how to get you to notice him more instead of Tenshouin. I told him that really didn’t know, because yer stubborn and I wasn’t that interested in romance,” Keito glared, “You can give me that look all ya want, but you know it’s true.”

“So let me get this straight. Sakuma Rei would ask me out on several different occasions. I would reject him accidentally, not knowing he was even asking me out. Then because he was on a rebound, would seek somebody else’s attention, which is how you ended up dating him in secret for a month. And while you two were dating, he’d just complain about me and try to figure out how to get me to go out with him. Do I have that right?”

“Yup.”

“But, he dated Hakaze and Ogami at one point. The latter I know had a crush on him. In fact he went out with Ogami for a decent amount of time.”

“I’m not sure how it was with Ogami, but Hakaze would have been like me, casual. I’m sure it was more along the lines of Sakuma trying to get Hakaze to realize his feelings for Shinkai. Which that seemed to be successful considerin’ Hakaze is now dating both Shinkai and Morisawa.”

Keito groan and put his face in his hands.

“Let it be known that he is doing all of this wrong. I had such strong feelings towards Eichi, despite knowing he’d never return them. Sakuma would have needed something shocking to get me to notice him beyond him just generally being around.”

“He asked me one time if just grabbin’ and shovin’ you against a wall and makin’ out with ya, would get you to notice. I told him that it’d get his point across, but would prolly end with you trying to fight him.”

“… That probably would have worked.” Keito said quietly, looking away. There was a long silence before Kuro spoke up again. “That being said, I probably also would have yelled at him for it.”

“So, Danna, would you have gone out with him?” Keito grabs his glass and takes a long drink. Buddha knew he needed it. 

“If I had known it could have been a possibility, probably. Although, I think I might not have believed him. He has a mysterious sort of air to him, even when we were in the student council together. I rarely knew when he was being serious. Most times he just seemed like he knew he was annoying me, and enjoyed my suffering. But also as a child I was drawn to him when I’d find him in the cemetery. He was just… he just had such a beauty to him, that made him look not real then. And while at Yumenosaki, seeing how time treated him, he was unattainable. I was aware he was dating like half the school, plus my feelings for Eichi. It just never seemed right.”

“Well I’m sure he’ll be glad to know you think he’s beautiful.” Kuro laughed.

“Shut up! You dated him and had sex with him! You can’t deny you think the same.”

“I never said I did. But, I’m not the one who was so blind to the fact that someone like Sakuma Rei asked him out, and just flat out rejected him to do student council work.” Keito’s face turned red.

“It doesn’t matter anyways, considering Sakuma is busy with his own idol work, and is still probably dating Ogami.” Kuro’s brows furrowed.

“Ogami broke up with him a while ago.”

“Why do you even know this?” he asked exasperated.

“Kanzaki is friends with Otogari.” Kuro didn’t need to explain further. Keito just instinctively knew Adonis was confused, though he should have had the concept of dating in his home country. Souma was probably one of the worst people to ask about dating and why relationships fail. Keito groaned.

“Yes… right. Either way, I’m sure since we don’t cross paths anymore, Sakuma has long since lost interest in me.” He sighed.

“You never know, Danna. I could find out for you, if yer interested.” Kuro pulled out his phone, and waved it.

“How did we even get to this point, Kiryuu?” Keito watched as Kuro looked down at his phone and began typing, “And no I’m not interested! Put that thing away! We have our own lives now. Besides being an idol doesn’t exactly permit us to date anyone. We both could get into serious trouble. And I for one will not have Akatsuki suffer because Sakuma has a crush on me.”

“You mean now that you have a crush on Sakuma,” Kuro gave him a pointed look, “‘Sides, Sakuma is really good at keepin’ secrets. So are you when ya wanna. The hardest time you have with keepin’ them is around Tenshouin, and at this point I’m pretty sure he’s too busy with his failin’ health and Hibiki to even care that you two are breakin’ a rule.”

“Eichi’s health is always failing. He’ll still care enough to tease me about it. Plus, I don’t trust Hibiki as far as I can throw him.”

“Danna, I don’t think you could throw anyone.”

“Exactly. I’m not a muscle head like you and Kanzaki.”

“Say whatcha want about it, Danna, but we’re adults now, if ya really want to, I say go for it. Most people won’t even think anythin’ of it, so long as you don’t kiss in public.”

“I would never!” Okay, Keito might kiss him in public, but that’s only because Rei is good at getting what he wants. But, he’s older now! No more teenage hormones. Plus a lot more is at stake. Kuro gave him a look that said he doesn’t believe Keito at all, but he’s going to take him at his word.

“Well there ya go. You and Sakuma can just pretend to be friends in public, nobody but the fujoshi would even notice.” Keito mulled the idea over in his head. It could work, but was it really worth the risk?

“But…” Kuro’s phone buzzed.

“Hey ya got some free time next Thursday right? Right after the magazine interview?” Keito looked between Kuro’s phone and his face.

“… Yes…?”

“Good, Sakuma will meet ya at the café across the street, when it’s done.”

“Kiryuu!!” Keito jumped up and leaned over the table, reaching for Kuro’s phone. Kuro moved his phone out of Keito’s reach laughing.

**Author's Note:**

> Hahaaaaaa This is the first fic I've written in like... 10 years. And it's indirectly about my ship.


End file.
